TAMPA, Fla. – Joaquin Buckley kept things short, sweet and to the point during his UFC on ESPN 63 post-fight press conference on Saturday.

After the most high-profile win of his career, Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) answered just one question from reporters but touched on many topics.

“My first main event was a huge success,” Buckley told MMA Junkie and others backstage at Amalie Arena. “I feel like the entire card was very successful and yielded a lot of knockouts. I feel like my struggles shouldn’t have been stopped. It is what it is. You have to protect the fighters. I feel like 2025 is definitely my year and we’re definitely taking the lead. With that in mind, we have a six-fight winning streak ahead of us. I scored eight knockouts in the UFC.

“I feel like I’ve done enough to really put myself in a position to fight for this title again. Even though I know Shavkat (Rakhmonov) is the next one blessed with this fight, but if anything happens where Shavkat or Belal (Muhammad) don’t step into the octagon, I want to face them. At the end of the day, we’ll keep it short and sweet, bro. I definitely plan on taking that throne in 2025, brother. We out.”

Buckley, 30, defeated Colby Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) via a medical stoppage in round 3 due to a laceration. Covington’s right eyelid was badly cut.

With the win, Buckley extended his winning streak to six. The win capped a perfect 4-0 year for him in 2024. After the fight, Buckley polled the crowd on his call and gave them three options: Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman and welterweight champion Muhammad. The audience chose Usman.

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.